{"id":248806,"date":"2025-07-08T19:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T19:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/248806\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T19:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T19:39:13","slug":"mother-43-who-was-given-40-chance-of-survival-after-bowel-cancer-diagnosis-shares-common-night-time-symptom-which-is-often-ignored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/248806\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother, 43, who was given 40% chance of survival after bowel cancer diagnosis shares common night time symptom which is often ignored"},"content":{"rendered":"

A mother who blamed her night sweats on perimenopause<\/a>\u00a0has revealed it was an early sign of deadly bowel cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Charlie O’Brien, 43, from Bromley in South East\u00a0London<\/a>, had previously been fit-and-healthy until she suddenly became very unwell at the start of the year.<\/p>\n

Doctors found a large tumour on her colon and she was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in January 2025.<\/p>\n

Heartbreakingly, the counsellor and hypnotherapist was told by doctors she has a ‘four in ten’ chance of survival.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite not experiencing most of the classic symptoms, her tumour was already three to four years old, because bowel cancer can be very slow growing.<\/p>\n

Since her diagnosis, she has been able to ‘piece it all together’ and has shared what she believes to be the early signs of the devastating disease.<\/p>\n

Initially she put the on-and-off night sweats she’d had for around two years down to entering perimenopause, but once her tumour was removed ‘they’ve stopped’.<\/p>\n

Other symptoms she has since linked to the tumour include an aching and pulling sensation on her left side, bloating, tummy cramps, and constipation.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A mother has shared that on and off night sweats were an early sign that she had bowel cancer<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

Now she has urged others experiencing any of the early signs to ‘insist on screenings with your GP if needs be’.<\/p>\n

In a video posted on TikTok<\/a> which has been viewed more than 114,000 times, she also shared the usual bowel cancer symptoms she didn’t experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These included blood from the bottom, weight loss, fatigue, vitamin deficiency, and loss of appetite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘If I can help someone to not go through the dreadful experience I have\u2014these posts are more than worth it,’ she wrote in the caption.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And it seems her decision to go public with her diagnosis and health battle has already started to have a positive ripple effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After bravely sharing her experience, many people have told her that they have either had a colonoscopy or booked an appointment for one.<\/p>\n

Since under going an emergency operation to remove the tumour, Ms O’Brien has undergone eight rounds of chemotherapy, with more to go.<\/p>\n

The comment section was flooded with messages of support from social media users.<\/p>\n

One user commented: ‘Thank you so much for sharing this. (I) really hope you are okay.’<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

Another said: ‘This is so important to spread awareness. I’ve just been diagnosed and never had any of the classic (symptoms).’<\/p>\n

It comes amid an alarming explosion<\/a> of cancers in young people, which has baffled experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the last 30 years, young diagnoses of colon cancer have shot up by 80 per cent<\/a> across the globe, research suggests.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, rates of the disease in older groups, who are statistically more likely to get the disease overall, have either declined <\/a>or remained stable to the same period.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Concerningly, last year experts predicted<\/a> that deaths from bowel cancer are set to soar by a tenth by 2040.<\/p>\n

There have been several different explanations proposed by experts for the explosion in cases in young people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this year a bombshell study<\/a> found a common food bug E. coli picked up in childhood may be fuelling the epidemic.<\/p>\n

Other researchers have suggested it could be due to ‘accelerated aging’ which increases their risk of\u00a0developing polyps, small growths that can lead to cancer.<\/p>\n

This aging is thought to be caused by a mixture of lifestyle choices, such as diet and level of exercise.<\/p>\n

However, it has also been suggested that factors typically outside of an individual’s control could be to blame, like chemicals in food, clothing and air.<\/p>\n

Some studies<\/a> have pointed to seed oils like sunflower, canola, corn and grapeseed, as the explanation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a growing number of studies <\/a>have laid the blame at the foot of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).<\/p>\n

Other theories <\/a>suggest microplastics\u2014particles of plastic that are transferred on to food from packaging materials\u2014and additives in store-bought foods.\u00a0<\/p>\n